Fresh air heat exchanger with air treatment system

ABSTRACT

The fresh air heat exchangers function to supply ventilation, heating and air purification. The device does this whether the building is occupied or empty. The outside air is drawn in, filtered, then passed through the heat exchanger where room air is passed adjacent to it and its heat is extracted and transferred to the incoming fresh air. The room air is subsequently exhausted outside. The preheated fresh outside air continues on to a hot water coil where it is additionally heated and then passed over a UV cell for purification. The purified heated air is introduced to the room. In the building unoccupied phase, room air is cycled back into the room without bringing fresh air in.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Heat exchangers per se are not new to the art. The function of the freshair heat exchanger of the instant invention is to provide ventilation,heating and treatment or purification of the air from a building. Thisis accomplished through several sequential phases within one completeunit. The uniqueness of the fresh air heat exchanger is that itautomatically switches operating modes while the building is occupied orunoccupied. The fresh air heat exchanger of this invention is controlledby the existing temperature control system in the building. It can beself controlled or a combination of both. Standard fresh air heatexchangers will only cycle when the building is unoccupied. This unitremoves stale air, uses the heat from the stale air to warm incomingcool fresh air, then the stale air is exhausted while the preheatedfresh air is heated by a hot water coil and optionally purified by a UVcell then released into the room. U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,334 issued toGrinbergs on May 27, 1997 is incorporated herein by reference for whatit teaches concerning heat recovery ventilators or heat exchangers.

THE INVENTION

The instant invention is a mode switching fresh air heat exchanger thathas simultaneous movement of the hot air and cold air within the system.The device consists of a housing having a front, a back, a top, abottom, a near end, and a distal end.

There is an opening located in the interior back of the housing that isa fresh air exterior opening louver panel. There is also a first duct tocarry the fresh air from the louver panel to a first heat recoveryventilator.

The device contains an open grill located in the interior front, nearthe bottom that is a stale air open grill and located interiorly to thehousing and adjacent to and aligned with the grill is a filter for thestale air. There is a second duct to carry the filtered air to a secondheat recovery ventilator connected in air carrying tandem to the firstheat recovery ventilator and a third duct to carry the heat recoveredair to the outside through the louver panel. There is a fourth duct tocarry the fresh air to a heating zone and through an air vent into aroom. This air vent is located in the top of the housing. The air isconveyed through the heating zone by a variable speed electrical fan.

The fresh air and stale air are simultaneously moved by electricalblowers and electrical components for electrifying the blowers and fans.

The advantages of the devices of the instant invention include, but arenot limited to, exhausting at the ground floor level, intake above theground, eliminating the pick up of debris and the like by the device,eliminates ductwork in the ceiling of the buildings in which they areused, eliminates a majority of dampers and damper controls, use of anair cleaner system in the flowing air to clean up bacteria and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a full side view in perspective of the fresh air heatexchanger with a portion of the housing removed to show the interior.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a fresh air heat exchanger of thisinvention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a fresh air heat exchanger of thisinvention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the outside air intake, heat exchanger,room air duct and the electrical control system of this invention.

FIG. 5A is a rear view of the fresh air heat exchanger of this inventionshowing the external or outside air intake.

FIG. 5B is a view in perspective of a rear panel of this invention.

FIG. 6 is an air flow schematic within the fresh air heat exchanger.

FIG. 7 is an end view of a portion of the fresh air heat exchanger.

FIG. 8 is an air flow diagram of a device of this invention.

FIG. 9 is a portion of a side view of the invention showing a damperassembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a full view in perspective of the fresh air heat exchanger 2.Here the fresh air heat exchanger 2 is fully assembled. Shown in thisFigure is the intake grill 60 which attaches to the intake elbow 44 thatsupplies the unit 2 with fresh air. Also shown is the air vent 52 thatsupplies return air to the room. The air intake 82 for room air isthrough the base front 14 which is filtered then introduced into thefresh air heat exchanger 2. The hot water coil 34 sits on top of theheat exchanger 72 housing 18. The fresh air heat exchanger 2 iselectrically powered by a blower 30 which is controlled by the junctionbox 38 and switch fuse 40 through conduit 42 and electrical box 36.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the fresh air heat exchanger 2. Thisembodiment also includes the UV cell 62. The UV cell utilizes oxidationtechnology that is a high intensity broad spectrum UV tube (100-300 nm)in a hydrated catalytic matrix cell. Low level ozone is produced in thecell, the majority of which is converted into airborne hydro peroxides,super oxide ions, ozonide ions and hydroxides. The bulb in incased in apoly tube to prevent any glass or mercury leakage. The air passes by theUV cell 62 for purification after it is heated by the hot water coil 34.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the fresh air heat exchanger 2. ThisFigure shows the components of the fresh air heat exchanger 2. The freshair heat exchanger 2 has a top panel 6, two end panels 8, a bottom panel10 and an inner wall 12. The unit 2 sits on a base that is comprised ofa base front 14 and a base rear 16. The base front 14 has louvers 82 init that act as an air intake 82 from a room. This air that is drawn fromthe room is filtered by filter 50 before it is passed to the heatexchangers 72 in the housing 18. The filter is supported by filterbraces 48 that are attached to the bottom panel 10. The support channels20 sit atop the bottom panel 10 and support the housing 18. The coilsupply duct 22 supplies air to the coil 34 for further heating.

When the air is drawn in from the bottom 10, it flows into room air duct24 into the heat exchangers 72 in the housing 18 where it is passed bythe incoming fresh air to preheat the fresh air, then the room air isexhausted through exhaust port 78. The room air duct 24 is connected tothe housing 18 via a collar 28 and a draw band 26. The circulation ofthe air into and throughout the fresh air heat exchanger 2 is providedby the blower 30. The blower 30 pulls air from the base front 14,through the filter 50, through the room air duct 24 into the heatexchangers 72 in the housing 18 and then exhausted.

The fresh air is drawn in and passes by the room air preheating thefresh air. From that point the air is forced through the coil supplyduct 22, through the hot water coil 34, through the UV cell 62 and thenthe air that is now heated and cleansed arrives at the room. The roomair is passed by a heat exchanger 72 which captures heat and thentransfers that heat to the fresh incoming outside air.

FIG. 4 is an internal view of the outside air intake 68, heat exchanger72, room air duct 24 and the electrical control system 70. It is clearfrom this Figure that the outside air intake comprises the air chamber64, the intake elbow 44, the back brace and a louvered panel 54 (notshown) to draw air from the outside. The heat exchanger 72 is comprisedof the front base 14 and rear base 16 incorporating a filter 50 andsupporting the housing 18. The housing 18 supports the blower 30 (notshown) and the hot water coil 34. Also shown is the coil supply duct 22.Mounted within the top 6 is the air vent 52 which returns the heated andcleansed air back into the room.

FIG. 5 is a back view of the fresh air heat exchanger 2 showing theexternal or outside air intake 68. The exterior louvered panel 54 issupported by a backer panel 74 and separated by dividers 76. The intakeelbow 44 is attached to the backer panel 74 to draw air through thelouvered panel 54 and into the elbow 44 then on into the intake airchamber 64 to be passed into the heat exchangers 72 in the housing 18 tobe passed by the room air for preheating. The backer panel 74 also hasanother opening 78 that aligns with the exhaust system 80. The fresh airheat exchanger 2 will exhaust room air through the exhaust system 80 andout the exhaust port 78. The housing 18 has a filter 50 for incomingfresh air and also a filter for the preheated air.

FIG. 6 is an air flow schematic within the fresh air heat exchanger 2.The room air is drawn into the front base 14, through filter 50 theninto the life breath 18. The outside air in drawn in through theexterior louver 54, into the intake elbow 44, into the intake airchamber 64, and on into the housing 18. The fresh outside air is heatedby the heat exchanger 72. The air is then drawn into the blower 30 andon into the coil supply duct 22, then into the hot water coil 34 whereit is heated. The air proceeds into over the UV cell 62 where it ispurified and then on through the air vent 52 and back into the roomheated and cleansed. The stale room air is removed through the exhaustport 78 of the exhaust system 80.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the fresh air heat exchanger 2. This Figureshows the air intake 68, air chamber 64, hot water coil 34 and the UVcell 68. The key here is the relationship between the hot water coil 34and the UV cell 68 to show the air is heated the purified before it isreleases back into the room.

FIG. 8 is an air flow diagram of a device of this invention. The solidline indicates the outside air coming into the system 2 first passingthe heat exchangers 72, proceeding to the coil supply duct 22 throughthe hot water coil 34, then on to the UV cell 62, and then the air isreturned into the room. This is the fresh air cycle.

The solid line with dashes indicates the circulation cycle where roomair is filtered at filter 50, then on to the blower 30 where it is movedto the coil supply duct 22. The air is then heated in the hot water coil34, passed through the UV cell 62 and returned to the room heated andpurified. This is the unoccupied cycle.

The other cycle that is indicated by the solid line with asterisk is theexhaust. This cycle is simultaneous to the first cycle in that the roomair, before it is exhausted, is passed by the heat exchangers 72 to warmthe fresh incoming outside air. Then the room air is exhausted.

In the building occupied mode there are three phases of operation andone phase for the unoccupied building mode. In the first phase theoutside air passes through the exterior louver panel 54 and enters thefresh air heat exchanger 2 through an elbow 44. The fresh air is thendrawn into a heat recovery ventilator. Simultaneously, stale warm airfrom inside the building is pulled into the bottom front 14 of the freshair heat exchanger 2 through a grill 82 where it is first filtered forparticles. The filtered air enters the room's air duct 24 within thefresh air heat exchanger 2 and then passes through the heat recoveryventilator 4 where it is discharged outside through the exterior louverpanel 54. Stale warm air is constantly being replaced by an equalquantity of outside fresh air. The heat recovery ventilator 4 can meetfresh air requirements of the building and is capable of at least 250cubic feet per minute.

As the two air streams pass through the heat recovery ventilator 4, theydo not mix. They pass through air filters 50 on either side of analuminum heat exchange core in housing 18 which transfers heat from theoutgoing air to the incoming air. This allows the heat from the buildingto be saved and from being lost to the outside.

Condensate drains are located at the bottom of the heat recoveryventilator 4 below the aluminum heat exchange core. The drains then passthrough the fresh air heat exchanger 2 where a sump pump is located. Thepump then discharges to the buildings existing drain system.

The second phase begins once the air has been warmed during phase one bythe heat recovery ventilator 4 and a supplemental heating of the air isaccomplished by a hot water coil 34 located within the fresh air heatexchanger 2 above the heat recovery ventilator 4. The hot water coil 32is connected to the building's hot water system and can meet up to20,000 BTU off heat loss from the room. A variable speed controlled fanor blower 30 continuously pulls the conditioned heat recovery ventilator4 air across the hot water coil 34 and into the room.

The third phase begins prior to the heated air entering the room fromthe heat recovery ventilator 4 after phase two, it passes across a cell62 located downstream of the hot water coil 34. The cell 62 utilizesoxidation technology that consists of a high intensity broad spectrum UVtube (100-300 nm) in a hydrated catalytic matrix cell. Low level ozoneis produced in the cell, the majority of which is converted intoairborne hydro peroxides, super oxide ions, ozonide ions and hydroxides.The UV bulb is encased in a poly tube to prevent any glass or mercuryleakage. Also, the entire assembly is encased in a protective metalcell. This cell eliminates sick building syndrome risks by reducingodors, air pollutants, chemical odors, smoke, mold bacteria, andviruses.

The fresh air heat exchanger 2 also has an unoccupied building phasewhere the heat recovery ventilator is bypassed. The room air enters thefresh air heat exchanger 2 through the bottom passing through a grill 82where it is filtered, heated by the hot water coil and recirculated backinto the room by the variable speed fan. Another unique feature of thedevice 2 is the intake and exhaust is well above ground level. Prior artunits have their exhaust and intake at ground level making themreceptacles for lawn debris and snow causing all kinds of internalproblems with the units.

1. A mode switching fresh air heat exchanger having simultaneousmovement of the hot air and cold air comprising: a housing, said housinghaving a front, a back, a top, a bottom, a near end, and a distal end;located in the interior back of the housing, a fresh air exterioropening louver panel; a first duct to carry the fresh air from thelouver panel to a first heat recovery ventilator; located in theinterior front, near the bottom, a stale air open grill; locatedinteriorly to the housing and adjacent to and aligned with the grill, afilter for the stale air; a second duct to carry the filtered air to asecond heat recovery ventilator connected in air carrying tandem to thefirst heat recovery ventilator; a third duct to carry the heat recoveredair to the outside through the louver panel; a fourth duct to carry thefresh air to a heating zone and through an air vent into a room, saidair vent located in the top of the housing, said air being conveyedthrough the heating zone by a variable speed electrical fan; said freshair and stale air being simultaneously moved by electrical blowers, andelectrical components for electrifying the blowers and fans.
 2. Thefresh air heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1 wherein in addition,there is a cell for treating the air to substantially remove odors,pollutants, volatile organic compounds, smoke, mold, bacteria, andviruses, if present in the air.
 3. The fresh air heat exchanger asclaimed in claim 1 wherein, in addition, there is an air conditioningunit added to cool the air.